


Fuqboi

by jassmarie19



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Normal High School, Background Relationships, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, High School, M/M, Next Door Neighbors, POV Multiple, POV Third Person Limited, Rating May Change, Tags May Change, boy next door, frazel - Freeform, solangelo, there are others - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-03-05 17:15:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18833140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jassmarie19/pseuds/jassmarie19
Summary: When Percy moves from New York to the suburbs, he doesn't expect a super hot neighbor.Neither does Jason.Too bad they both think the other is the ultimate Fuckboy.Based on the song Fuqboi by Hey Violet





	1. Summertime Sadness

**Author's Note:**

> This is the product of a plot bunny that I couldn't get rid of and tumblr encouraged me to write it.
> 
> Enjoy!

38, 39, 40.

Jason put the weights on the rack behind him, and rolled his shoulders. He had a tight spot between his right shoulder blade and spine that he simply could not get rid of. If it affected his throws come time for practice, he was going to be really pissed. He couldn’t show up to conditioning practice with a wonky arm, he’d be the laughing stock of the team. Varsity Quarterback and Co-Captain this year—he had to get it together. Thankfully, he had about a week before practice started. He’d ask Reyna about her masseuse that she was always bragging about, that should fix him right up.

He wiped sweat out of his eyes, then grabbed his water bottle and downed the remainder. He paused his very loud “Pump Me Up” playlist before popping out an earbud. The quiet of his neighborhood was a relief, even if it wasn’t as quiet as usual. New people were moving into the house right behind his and he could hear the movers shifting boxes and coordinating with the new owners about where to put their belongings. They had been at this since early in the morning, but they seemed to be making decent headway from what what Jason could hear. He had spied them when they first arrived, a woman and a dark-haired high-school aged kid. That was about all he’d seen of them, though. Which was fine. They lived so close he’d certainly see them around again. 

A very loud and very obnoxious voice broke him out of this thoughts. “Hey fuckwad, lunch time.”

Jason turned just in time to catch the pre-wrapped sandwich being lobbed at his head by his sister. “Thanks, Thal.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Thalia crossed her arms and leaned against the porch steps. “Are you done staring wistfully at the neighbor’s house?”

Jason choked on his ham and cheese. “What? I was not!”

“Why wouldn’t you? He’s cute,” Thalia smiled. God, she seemed so smug, like when she’d caught him stealing ice cream sandwiches from the freezer when he was six.

“I wouldn’t even know, I’ve only seen the back of his head.”

Thalia’s grin only grew. “Well, then aren’t you lucky that Mom sent me over with cookies to welcome them to the neighborhood. And before you get your panties all twisted up, I did come out here to get you, but you were so ‘in the zone’ you didn’t even notice me.”

Jason huffed. That sounded plausible. His one-track mind was both a blessing and a curse.

“His name is Percy Jackson, he’s 16, a swimmer, and he’s hot.” Thalia turned to face the stairs, but she kept talking. “He and his mom Sally moved here from New York.” She walked up the few steps to the back door. “Have a good rest of your summer!” She let the screen door slam behind her.

After Jason’s midday post-workout shower, he texted Piper.

**Pipes can you come over?**

Piper, always the prompt responder, sent back, **Yeah what’s up**

**Pretty sure I’m gonna need your help with something…**

**OMW**

Jason sighed. Piper was a lot better than him when it came to relationships. Plus, he trusted her judgement more than his sister’s. Not that Thalia didn’t have good taste, but that taste sat firmly in the “girls only” category, which could only get him so far. 

When Piper arrived, she didn’t even knock, she just walked into Jason’s room, best friend privilege and all. 

“So what’s up?” She plopped down on the bed next to where Jason was laying.

He might as well get straight to it. “I have new neighbors and I need to recon their house.” There was a brief pause before Piper responded.

“Like, to find out if they’re murderers?”

“No, there’s ...There’s a guy who lives there now.”

“Is he cute?” Her interest was definitely piqued. 

“I don’t know! That’s why I need you.”

“You know, you could go over and just introduce yourself.”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “I am absolutely not going to do that.”

“Jason Grace! I’ve never known you to be a coward!”

Jason sat up. “This is not cowardice! This is—It’s getting information before deciding my next move. This is strategy.”

“Uh huh.” Her smugness level rivalled Thalia’s. “So what’s your strategic plan?” Sarcasm, always Piper with the sarcasm.

“I don’t really know,” he admitted, “that’s why I need you.”

Piper sighed. “Have you even looked him up on Facebook? Instagram?”

“No…” Oh. Jason totally could have done that on his own. Yeah, he really wasn’t good at this. At all. “But I know his name!”

“I can’t believe I drove here to tell you to Google your crush,” Piper pulled out her own phone and started searching.

“Hey, I do not have a crush! I don’t even know what he looks like. I mean, Thalia said he was hot, but…”

She didn’t even look up from her phone. “What’s wrong with Thalia's opinion?” 

“How can I trust her taste in guys? She’s full girl and you’re, like, half girl.”

She stopped typing. “Half girl,” Piper deadpanned.

“I mean that you still like boys and, as my best friend, I trust that you will give me an objective opinion.”

“Okay, fine. Is this him?” Piper handed Jason her phone. She had searched Facebook for Percy Jackson and filtered by location. The top result had a profile picture of a swim team.

“I’m not sure.” Jason tapped on the name. “His profile picture is a group photo and apparently he is really concerned with security because I can’t even see any other pictures.”

“So friend request him.”

Jason almost dropped her phone“Piper McLean! I am a stranger!”

“You’re such a pussy sometimes, Jason, honestly. I mean, you’re going to have some kind of contact with him eventually.”

“Ugh, this isn’t working!” Jason handed the phone back. 

There was silence while Jason sulked and Piper, presumably, considered their options. 

“Okay,” she began. “Let’s go outside and see if we see anything. I mean, they have a pool out back. I’m sure Percy’s gonna want to get in it since he’s on the swim team.”

Jason’s face changed into one of intense concentration. “Do you think that will work?”

“Do you have a better idea?” she countered.

“No,” Jason admitted. He really didn’t. “Okay. Let’s go.”

It did not work. 

After an hour of sitting on the porch drinking soda and eating chips, Piper finally spoke up. “Jason, I don’t think they’re home.”

“They just moved in. Where else could they possibly be?” Jason defended. 

“Buying groceries, out of a late lunch, going to see a movie, There’s lots of things. Hell, they could just be taking a nap in there for all we know! I know I would be.”

“I guess.” She was right, of course. And he could just knock and say “hi,” but that felt like showing his cards too early. He wanted to know what he was getting into with Potentially Hot Neighbor Guy before there was any actual contact. 

Piper reached out and touched his arm. “Listen, I get that you don’t just want to walk up to this guy and say ‘Hi! I just wanted to know if you were hot’ and I am more than happy to help you out with this, but I think you’re going to have to put yourself out there, like, 5% more.”

Jason shifted so he could hold her hand. “I just...This is really hard. And new.” He had come out to Thalia and Piper in March, halfway through last semester. A girl had asked him to Homecoming, and not as friends. He had asked. It was awful, and incredibly awkward, but ultimately he was glad for it. Being gay didn’t feel like a carefully guarded secret anymore, even if he wasn’t out to the entire world, it was better. So much better. 

She squeezed his hand. “I know.”

They held each other there, just for another moment, until Piper stood up.

“Well, I gotta go. Please keep me updated with how stalking the neighbor boy goes. I feel very invested.”

Jason stood as well. “Here, I’ll walk you out.” He needed to leave the site of his utter failure.

Jason didn’t see him for the rest of the day. Either he was too busy with unpacking to make it outside, which was very likely, or he was hiding from Jason, which was very unlikely, but Jason couldn’t help the irrational part of his brain of thinking it. Jason did, however, notice a light was on in the upstairs window that faced his own. There were curtains pulled shut over it, though, so he couldn’t tell who was in there.

. . . 

Percy would be lying if he said that he hadn’t immediately noticed the really, just, super-hot guy whose house butt-touched his. As soon as Percy and his mom were settled in their very own honest-to-god house, Percy started checking out the neighborhood.

It was a big leap, moving from New York City to a town where a car was a necessity to get anywhere. Percy was used to subways, buses, and walking. And navigating a grid system. There were always people out, always stores open, and it never got truly dark. Out here, everything was too far apart for that. There were no Bodegas on the corner, just a Super WalMart a ten minute drive away (Which, thankfully, was open 24/7, but he would have to use a car to get there and he couldn’t drive. He should probably learn, though, now that it was necessary for his continued happiness outside of a major metropolitan city.)

But Percy’s general scoping out of the neighborhood had given him the wonderful opportunity to spy his neighbor on one glorious day when said neighbor boy opened the back door and stepped onto his porch. He was sweaty and flushed like he had just finished working out. His shirt was in his hand, and he used it to wipe his face before sitting on a deck chair. His blonde hair was cropped close, but he brushed his hand through it anyway, his back arching as he stretched. He leaned his head back and relaxed into the chair. 

Percy was also behind his house working on making sure the chemicals in their pool (Yes! He had his very own pool!!) were balanced and he nearly dropped all the pH strips into the water. His neighbor was unfairly hot. He should say something. 

“Hey,” he called out. Yup, yup good, a neutral start. 

The boy jumped a bit. Apparently he hadn’t noticed that Percy was out here as well.

He decided to continue the conversation. “What’s up, Shirtless?” Percy was wearing a shirt himself. Well, half a shirt. It was a crop top modified by the wearer himself. Percy saw the other boy’s eyes widen, so his own smile did the same. 

The guy responded with an adorably clueless “Uhhh...”

“You wanna come play in the pool?” Percy asked, nodding his head towards said pool. “You look like you could use some cooling off.”

Shirtless stood up. “I—ah, I have to go.”

Percy’s eyebrows raised. “Okay…” No, bad, want Shirtless back. “If you wanna kick it later, you know where to find me.”

Shirtless ducked his head, turned, and left. 

Interesting.

The next time Percy saw him, however, his super hot neighbor guy did not immediately confess his undying adoration for Percy or even ask for his number, a travesty that Percy vowed to remedy. Percy hadn’t even gotten the guy’s name! He would have to try harder.

Percy didn’t lay it on too thick at first, but as the days went on, he gradually turned up the heat from waves to winks to very sexy swimming in very tiny Speedos. Percy was doing his absolute best. And yeah, the guy would sometimes wave back, but mostly he would stare, completely fucking stoic, and turn away. But, but—there was a reason Percy continued. 

Sometimes, if Percy was lucky, the guy would blush. And not the post-workout flush that was truly delicious, but an honest to god blush. Hot Neighbor Guy clearly wasn’t as unimpressed as his stoicism led on, and it was the closest thing to entertainment that Percy had in Suburbia, so he wasn’t about to stop for no reason. Of course, if the guy asked him to stop, Percy would. But he hadn’t. So the increasingly dramatic flirting would continue for the foreseeable future.

. . .

Jason called Piper the following Saturday.

“Piper, I think we have a problem.” He was sure he was right, but he also desperately wanted to be wrong.

She replied without hesitation. “Jason, what did you say to Percy?”

Jason spluttered at the accusation. “I didn’t—wh—why is it something that I did?”

“Because I know you.”

She wasn’t totally wrong. Jason could absolutely say the wrong thing sometimes, especially when it came to, like, potentially non-platonic feelings for other guys. But that was not what had happened! At all!

Jason took a deep breath. “I haven’t done anything, but it is about Percy.”

“Well, I’m sitting down. Go ahead.”

“Percy, he’s...he keeps asking me when we can ‘kick it’.”

Silence.

“Jason,” Piper began slowly. “I don’t see how that is a problem.”

“He’s...Okay.” How to explain this so that she would understand? “He’s tall and Thalia was right, he is hot. But he wears, like, crop tops, if he wears a shirt at all, and his hair is, like, short on the sides, and I seriously think he wears his mom’s earrings, and, again, Piper, kick it. So... I think Percy’s a fuckboy.”

“Oh…” she trailed off. “Oh, Jason, I’m so sorry. That’s awful.”

“I know,” Jason sighed. “But, now I can get over him ‘cause I know it won’t be going anywhere.” Just saying, Jason felt a pang in his chest. It hurt more than he thought it would. 

“Well,” Piper started, perking up her voice. “There are other Hot Neighbors Guys in the sea.”

“But he’s such a hot Neighbor Guy,” Jason whined.

“I know, and I’m sorry, hon.” Piper’s sincerity helped. She wasn’t really one for platitudes, at least not to the people she cared about.

“Yeah, well… do you have any plans tonight?”

“Nope. Should I bring ice cream?”

Were they really going to treat this like a real breakup? Jason certainly felt like he was really grieving. “Maybe.”

“I’ll be there in an hour.”

“You’re my favorite best friend and I’m very sorry I broke up with you in 6th grade.”

“As you should! Love you, Jace.”

“Love you, Pipes.”

American Dreamcone wouldn’t be able to fix all his problems, but it felt like a good place to start. If Jason was being honest, part of him was glad that Percy was a fuckboy. It meant there would be less distractions, which would allow Jason to focus on football, school, and college prep. 

Jason couldn’t just fly by the seat of his pants like his sister, and he didn’t want to have things handed to him just because he was Jason Grace. He needed to earn things. Being on top was worthless if it he hadn’t worked for it. Luckily for Jason, his work had paid off. His spot on the team, his leadership position, his good grades, it would all look good on his college apps. And he enjoyed it! Leading a team to victory! The pride that came with getting an A. It made it all worth it. 

And Percy Jackson would just take away from that. Percy was rebellious, Jason could tell, and he didn’t have time for rebellion. He barely had time for ice cream with Piper since football conditioning started. Once school began, he wouldn’t have time for Percy Jackson's coiffed hair, tan skin, and feminine earrings.

Nope. No time at all for that. At all.

. . . 

The Friday before the first day of school, Percy saw his lovely neighbor walking from his garage to the back of his house. So, naturally, he felt the need to say something.

“There he goes just a-walking ‘cross the yard, singing doo wa ditty ditty dum ditty doo.” Was his singing obnoxious? Absolutely. But! From his spot in the pool, Percy could see something that made it all completely worth it.

And of course, he just had to call attention to it. “Hey wait, was—was that a smile?” And there was that blush again. “No, you can't deny it.” Percy swam to the edge of the pool and leaned his crossed arms against the rim. “I made you smile. I think that’s worth giving me your name, at least.” Percy tilted his head and gave his very attractive half-naked neighbor his most winning smile. Apparently it worked. 

“Jason. Jason Grace.” Jason walked to Percy and extended his hand. Percy took it.

“Percy Jackson.” Oh god, he was so warm. 

“Yeah, I know.” 

What?? “You do?” Percy said, excitement and a touch of shock lacing his voice. 

Jason blushed again. Percy realized they were still holding hands. “We’re neighbors, it makes sense we know each other’s names.” Their hands dropped.

“I ‘spose it does.” Percy already missed the contact. 

“Yes, well. I should—” Jason gestured back towards the backdoor of his house. 

Percy moved back from the edge of the pool, just to give Jason a bit of space. “Let me know when you’re ready to kick it in my sweet-ass pool, Jason Grace.”

“Uh huh,” Jason turned and walked towards his house. 

“I mean it, Grace!” Percy called.

Jason replied with a thumbs-up, his back still turned.

Percy laughed. Yes, this was going very well. 

School might be starting Monday, but there was still plenty of time to virtually stalk his neighbor. He knew Jason’s name now, time to learn everything else. 

 

It took a little bit of searching to find the right profile, but there it was: Jason Grace’s Instagram. Time for reconnaissance.

Percy tapped the first picture. A workout selfie. Fine. Jason clearly put effort into his physique, he had a right to brag a bit. But Percy already knew this about Jason, so it wasn’t exactly helpful.

Next!

Jason and a girl—dark hair and dark clothes...his sister, Thalia. Percy has seen her when she dropped off some cookies her mom made. Again, not new information.

A few more pictures...okay. A picture of him with a girl—Piper the caption read. A girlfriend maybe? Nope, the caption said #besties. Interesting. Definitely more helpful than the last few. A football picture with the rest of the team. Very interesting. 

Percy scrolled to the next picture and stopped. It was another selfie. A pretty classic pic, not exactly remarkable, but it looked eerily similar to the last few. 

“No, no please. Don’t tell me…” A trickle of dread spread through his gut. 

Percy went back to the profile to see all the pictures. In every selfie, Jason’s head was tilted the same way with a half-smile on his face. Looking at all the pictures together, Percy could see just how many gym pictures there were, too. 

“Noooooooo,” Percy groaned and held his face in his hands. 

Jason Grace was a fuckboy.

Percy flopped back onto his bed. “What a fucking disappointment.” Those selfies—those basic, generic, head tilt selfies. That Jason took. And posted. Publically. For the world to see—to let the world know what he really was. 

“No, I am overreacting. It can’t be that bad.” He pulled up Jason’s profile again. 

It wasn’t that bad, it was worse. In the caption of every workout picture, every football post, anything that could be classified as “masculine” ar “athletic” was the hashtag BEASTMODE. Even if it wasn't that impressive or “beastmode” it was there in the actual fucking caption of the picture. 

“Fuuuuuuuuck,” Percy couldn’t keep flirting with him. When it came to fuckboys, Percy has been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, and dealt with the emotional scarring. He had no desire to do that again. 

He would let Jason go, move on from his summer of fun, and just get through the year. Try not to get into trouble for his mom’s sake and make the best out of their move. He could deal with his hot fuckboy neighbor. 

He'd have to.


	2. New Kid in School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm gonna put this here and just have it out there in the beginning because I don't want any comments about this.
> 
> The characters are going to say Problematic things. They will take their foot and just fucking shove it in their mouths. Yes, even your faves. Yes, even Jason. Yes, especially Percy.
> 
> I am not character-bashing. I, like, can't even fathom bashing any major characters in the Riordanverse.
> 
> Also, characters will behave in Problematic ways. They are teenagers. Based on my expierence as a teenager, a lot of it is spent figuring out where lines are in society and with your friends. Some things will toe the line. Some things will cross that line. Nothing, like, really bad is going to happen, and actions have consequences, but again, they are teenagers and I believe teenagers can make mistakes. In fact, I believe that to be a vital and fundamental part of growing up.
> 
> If you truly believe that I have cross a major line in a major way, please message me, but know that I am very aware of what characters are doing and how their words and actions affect others.
> 
> This isn't a super angsty fic, but it's not just super fluffy bunnies all the time. Just so y'all know.

The absolute worst, most obnoxious electronic screeching shook Percy out of his dream. As soon as he opened his eyes, he couldn’t remember what the dream was, but he could feel a pit in his stomach that hadn’t been there when he went to bed. 

Maybe it was just that it was Monday. The first Monday of the school year at a new school where he knew nobody and couldn’t even drive himself there like everyone else. He groaned. God, it was so early. He rolled over and closed his eyes for about half a second before there was knocking at his door. 

“Percy, get up! You don’t want to be late.”

He sighed. His mom wouldn’t let him be late, but she _would_ make him leave without allowing him to complete his Aesthetique Transformation just to make a point. He might as well get up. 

It was still unreasonably hot outside, so he was sure that the school would be blasting the air conditioning to compensate. He would need a jacket (leather, obviously), but with a t-shirt. Percy pulled one out of his dresser. 

His mom had made him fold up all of his clothes and place them neatly in appropriate spaces. Percy estimated that he would be able to keep up the tidiness for another week, tops before he just didn’t put away the laundry for a few days because it was just easier and then one day he would wake up and his clothes would be everywhere and he’d clean and have the whole cycle start over.

To complete his ever important First Day of School Outfit he added tight jeans and his fake Yeezy’s from Chinatown (he’d haggled _hard_ for these things, he was going to wear them goddamnit). Percy rummaged around in his small collection of earrings—mostly borrowed from him mother, some bought from actual stores— and picked a pair of studs with “diamonds” about four millimeters across that were also very sparkly. It added a certain special something to his hastily-assembled all-black outfit. He looked very good and very New York.

Oh.

He felt a flash of sadness wash over him that he immediately shook off. It wasn’t like he could never go back. Besides, the move was...better. It was better this way. 

After quickly styling his hair, Percy headed downstairs. He was instantly drawn to the kitchen where the smell of cinnamon pancakes and fried eggs was magnetic. 

“Thought we were gonna be late,” he quipped at his mom, who was currently transferring the last egg onto a serving plate. Well, this was...a lot. Breakfast back home usually consisted of both of them fending for themselves, not serving plates. Percy didn’t even know they had those until now. 

“It’s your first day of school, Percy! And I—wanted to make it nice.” She sat in her spot at the kitchen table opposite Percy’s and nursed her coffee; her silent way of telling Percy it was his turn to exert some energy for their breakfast.

He smiled. “Thanks, Mom.” He piled up two plates with blue pancakes and eggs. Some traditions, it seemed, weren’t left behind in New York. He added fresh fruit to his mom’s plate and lots of syrup to his before setting them both on the table and digging in.

“Are you excited?” his mom asked. Her dark curls were pulled back from her face on the sides and she eyed him over her coffee with a look that asked for actual introspection, not just “oh yeah I’m totally fine” bravado.

Percy shrugged and paused shovelling food into his mouth long enough to respond. “I guess? I mean, first day at a new school isn’t exactly a new feeling. This,” he gestured to the delicious pancakes, “certainly helps, though.”

“Good, I’m glad it’s helping. But this has been a really big transition, Percy. I wouldn’t blame you if you felt nervous, or even scared.”

“Yeah, I guess…” his thoughts flashed to Jason. He was probably going to see him today at school. That thought hadn’t even occurred to him before now. They were next door (sort of) neighbors, there was an incredibly high chance that they went to the same school. The whole thing suddenly felt real in a way it hadn’t before. The move, the new house, neighbors he couldn’t hear through the walls. It all still felt like a dream, or a vacation. Thesudden shock of permanence felt stifling.

“I guess I hadn’t really thought about it until now.” Percy continued eating on autopilot. It was several minutes until his mom spoke. 

“Percy…” she hesitated. “Are you sure you want to wear…” She gestured to her ears. 

Percy rolled his eyes. “Mom, what are they gonna do? Run me out of town on a rail?”

“Just—be careful. This isn’t New York.” 

“I thought that was the point.”

She looked down and sighed. “Are you finished eating?”

“Mom,” he reached out and held her hand across the table. “They’re going to have to get used to me eventually. Besides,” Percy gestured to his outfit. “This is very subdued.”

“For you it is,” she said with a laugh. “Now hurry up, you don’t want to be late on your first day.” She stood and cleared their plates from the table.

 

Getting driven to school by his mom was...weird. He thought there should be some shame attached to it, like in movies, but it just felt nice. Back home, he would take the subway or just walk if it was close enough. His mom only drove him places when they were going to the coast—a special occasion. Having his mom drive him everywhere now, no matter how mundane, made everything feel special. They could talk the new house, the new town, how listening to the radio all the time sucked because of the commercials. His mother talked about how she was going to have space for herself to make art and write, she might even start meditating. It was quiet enough out here. Percy planned on trying out for the swim team. He was being groomed to be Captain of his old team before the move, so he was pretty confident he could make it onto the one at his new school. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to being the new kid on a team of people who had probably all known each other for years, but he could deal. He was a joy to be around, he’d be fine.

It was definitely weird to pull up to a school that was a huge standalone building, though. It felt like he was pulling up to a film set and not living his real, actual life. 

“You ready?” his mom asked. She looked as nervous as he felt.

Percy pulled his backpack onto his shoulder. “Yeah. Totally.”

His mom leaned over the center console and gave him a tight hug. “You’ll do great. Try and have fun. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Percy said before opening the car door. He stepped out, closed the door behind him, and took a deep breath. “Here goes nothing.”

 

As soon as he walked into the front office, he was accosted by a blonde girl with a ponytail. 

“Are you Perseus Jackson?” She asked, her blue eyes were so pale they looked grey. 

“Yeah, but people only call me that when I’m in trouble.” _Just be cool, Percy—it’s totally fine that this beautiful girl is talking to you. Don’t be a Disaster Bi._

Her eyes narrowed. “I’m sure. Anyway, I’m Annabeth Chase, Student Body President.” She held out her hand and they shook to establish their mutual introduction.

“Percy.” Why did this feel like the sternest, most formal meeting of teenagers in the world?

“Great. Percy. Here’s your packet.” She handed him a manilla envelope with his name on the front in Sharpie. “Your schedule should be in there along with a map and school policies packet. You did come in and sign up for classes, right?”

“Yeah. I did.” He had missed orientation, so he’d had to come to the school a few days ago to sign up for classes and make sure he would be able to graduate in the new school system. So far, he was fine. Provided he didn’t fail anything. Or get kicked out. Or die. He wasn’t planning on any of that happening, but you never know. 

“Great. Follow me then.” She turned and walked out the door. Percy had no choice but to follow since he had absolutely no clue where he was going. “What do you have first?”

“Uhhhhh……” Percy dug through the papers in the envelope to find his schedule, which was actually kind of difficult since he was basically running to keep up with this Annabeth girl. 

“Chemistry. Room B111.” Percy was aware of the eyes following them, but he was way more concerned with keeping up. He was new, of course he was going to draw a certain amount of attention. He wasn't sure what exactly was keeping the onlookers at bay, but he guessed it was either Annabeth’s general demeanor or her pace that would put even the most hardcore New Yorker to shame. Maybe both.

“Great, right here,” she turned around so fast Percy almost ran into her. “Basically, there are five main halls A through E. The first number tells you what floor it’s on, first or second. The second number is which room on the hall. You’ll figure out the shortcuts eventually.” She opened the door and glanced inside before making a beeline towards someone. “For now, I leave you in the perfectly capable hands of Grover.” She turned to address the kid, Grover. “Please make sure new kid here gets to his next class.”

Grover nodded with such force that his curls bounced in front of his face. 

“See you around, Percy.” Percy watched her ponytail bounce as she left. She was definitely...Something.

“So, you’re the new kid! I’m Grover. Here—” he moved a set of crutches to his other side. “You can sit with me.”

“Thanks man,” Percy dropped his bag and sat. They were in the center table right between the door and the lab tables. Percy usually preferred a back corner, but he would forgo that luxury to sit with someone who was being civil to him. 

“So, Percy, welcome to Olympus! What’s the rest of your schedule?”

Percy passed the paper to Grover. He vaguely remembered what it said. 

“Okay, looks like we have everything together except third block. Awesome! I’ll make sure you don’t get lost.” Grover smiled so wide Percy couldn’t help but smile back. 

“That'd be great. Thanks, Grover.”

Okay. This was fine. This was do-able. Definitely going better than he had anticipated.

. . .

Jason set his bag on the floor and pulled out his planner. He could probably get a headstart on his Math homework tonight after practice. It’s wasn’t due until Wednesday thanks to a very liberal homework policy, but if he got ahead now it would help him stay on top of everything once his physics class started picking up speed. Having the first lunch shift would also help as a back up if he was going to be busy in the evening.

A perfectly serviceable schedule made a bit easier by ending with weight training. Hell, he might even have time to go to a party or two this semester. Imagine that. 

He closed his planner and looked up just in time to see someone walking towards him. 

Oh no.

Oh fuck no.

It was Percy. He glanced at Jason and then firmly stared straight ahead. He sat down at the desk next to Jason. A foot and a half away. 

What the fuck was Percy Jackson doing here? Classical Cultures was a weird class, a niche class, a class only taken by nerds like him and Frank and Hazel. They were sitting to his left, but he didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t told them about Percy and now here he was in Classical Fucking Cultures sitting next to him but clearly avoiding looking his way. What the hell was that about?

Percy had only ever acted gregarious, outgoing, and even flirtatious at home. But so far he hadn’t said anything besides “Actually, it’s Percy” when Mr. Brunner called roll. What the fuck was happening?

Jason forced his swirling mind to pay attention to Mr. Brunner. Read the syllabus. Copy what was on the board. Ask Frank and Hazel questions later. Get. Through. This. Class.

But, God, Percy looked so good. After only seeing him in various states of undress, seeing him fully clothed in jeans and a leather jacket was just...lewd. The boy should not look this good. At all. It was absolutely and totally unfair. All those hours in the pool left him bronzed like a Greek god. His black hair looked styled, but still soft, like it was asking to be touched, and petted, and grabbed, and—

_Stop looking, Jason. It’s weird._

How was he supposed to sit through an hour and a half of being closer to Percy than he had been for almost the entire time Jason had known him?

Percy wasn’t even looking his way.

Why? Did he smell? No, Jason was a very clean person who showered regularly and generally smelled fucking delightful. Can’t be that. 

Percy had spent every day since he’d moved in flirting with Jason, and now he wouldn’t even look at him? What the fuck had happened? Did he not want people to know they were acquainted? Was he embarrassed? Ashamed?

This was stupid. This was so stupid. What was Jason’s problem? They weren’t friends, and Jason had made a conscious effort to not fall for Percy after coming to the realization that he was a fuckboy, but this!

This was insulting and such classic fuckboy behavior. Act totally interested in private and then, as soon as there were people around, “Jason who?”

Fuck this guy. Fuck Percy Jackson and fuck his stupid leather jacket and touseled hair. 

The bell rang. 

Jason grabbed his stuff and just about ran out, only slowing once he was out the door so Hazel and Frank could catch up. 

Thank god he had weight training next. He wouldn’t have to think about that fuckboy for the rest of the day.

. . .

Percy was late to his last class of the day.

Without his trusted guide, Percy got turned around on the F Hall which was apparently a secret sixth hall that was shorter than the rest and absolutely not mentioned by Annabeth’s brisk orientation. Also! The numbering system for the classrooms was not as intuitive as Annabeth led on. But, about five minutes after all the doors on the hall closed, he found it. Hopefully his status as “New Kid” would buy him some sympathy.

He opened the (correct?) door and poked his head in. “Is this Home Ec?”

The teacher at the front of the room turned towards him. “Oh, yes! And you must be Percy! Grover saved you a seat.” She gestured to her right where, sure enough, Grover sat next to an empty seat. Percy didn’t linger by the door. 

“Thank you, uh…:” Fuck what was her name?

“Oh, please call me Hestia.” Oh, she was a first name basis teacher. This was either going to be the best class ever, or the worst. 

“Sorry, Percy. Did you get lost?” Grover asked hushed.

“Yeah, man. I didn’t have my guide.” Percy gave him a friendly elbow to the arm.

“I should have given you better directions. Oh man, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, it’s fine. I got here in one piece and it’ll probably help me remember where it is tomorrow.” Percy smiled and Grover smiled back, clearly relieved. 

Once the interruption of Percy’s entrance was over the rest of the class, who, from a cursory glance seemed to be exclusively made up of girls, turned their attention back to Hestia. Percy, however, found his mind wandering. Specifically back to last block.

It had taken so much of his energy to not look at Jason, and he was very proud that he hadn’t glanced over even once (except when he first walked by and they absolutely had the most charged moment of eye contact he had ever experienced, but that totally didn’t count except for a little bit). He had panicked at first when he walked in and saw that the only available seat was next to Jason, but that fuckboy was _not_ going to ruin his experience at a new school. It was one block, he could deal with being within touching distance to Jason Grace for 90 minutes. It was fine. Totally not a problem. He would just have to keep reminding himself of what he was like. 

How after he left class he had friends on either side and kept high-fiving people as he walked to his next class. Percy only noticed these things because their next classes were in the same direction, and Percy had absolutely not followed Jason to the Gym which was part of why he got turned around and late for class.

But! Who took Gym in high school? Surely, Jason “I work out every day” Grace had completed his mandatory physical education by now, which meant he was taking a voluntary class and that made Percy dislike him more. Clearly, Jason was a guy who prided himself on looking a certain way and making others know it. Percy refused to spend any more time on this guy than absolutely necessary. 

Percy half-heartedly took notes on the terms that they needed to know for the class. Honestly, it should be a breeze. Percy could fend for himself since many nights in New York were YOYO nights—his mother’s way of saying “You’re On Your Own.” Percy also tended to do better in practical application classes anyway, especially ones that gave his hands something to do. Overall, Home Ec wasn’t a bad way to end a school day. 

And eventually, end it did.

Percy gathered his belongings next to Grover before following him out of the classroom. “Hey, Grover. Where’s the bus pick-up?”

Grover stopped in the middle of the hallway. “Bus pickup?”

“Uh, yeah? I have to take the bus home.” Percy’s New Yorker instincts kicked in and he shifted to the side so they weren’t just totally blocking traffic in the middle of the hallway. 

“You’re not taking the bus home, Percy.” Grover was completely serious, which was super weird. It was just a bus.

Percy didn’t know how to intelligently reply to the super weird vibes Grover was throwing his way. Luckily, Grover responded to the utterly flabbergasted expression Percy was sure was painted on his face.

“I refuse to submit you to that. Come with me.”

Percy followed Grover. He was carrying Grover’s bag, after all, and he wasn’t going to just walk off with it. 

Grover led him to the back side of the school where a parking lot was filled with cars and students leaning against their respective vehicles. Percy stared at the vast lines of shiny metal. It was, again, a surrealy suburban sight that he was not accustomed to. 

“Annabeth!” Grover shouted as they neared the second line of cars. Annabeth’s blonde ponytail flipped and swayed when she snapped her head up.

She smiled. “Grover, there you are!” Then her smile drooped a bit. “Percy.”

“Uh, hi,” Percy waved, awkwardly, and immediately wished a large bird would come and kidnap him. Maybe feed him to her young, maybe raise him as her own. Honestly it was really up to the bird.

“Percy doesn’t have a car. Could you give him a ride so he doesn’t have to take the bus?” Grover said “the bus” like it was some kind of eldritch monster.

She sighed. “Yeah, get in.” Grover made his way to the passenger seat which meant that Percy was heading to the backseat. 

“So, where do you live?” Annabeth asked, glancing in her rear-view. 

“Uh, Olympus Heights?” He was pretty sure that was what it was called. He was still getting used to not saying cross-streets and which side of the road his building was on.

“Oh, great. That’s on the way.” Annabeth pulled into a long line of cars trying to exit the premises. Teachers stood in the parking lot directing traffic. 

“Is the traffic always like this?” He asked. 

“Pretty much, there’s only one exit.” Grover replied.

“And they like to let the Seniors out first since they’re in the front lot.” Annabeth added.

Percy slouched further into his seat. “Man, I miss public transport.”

“I bet you do,” Annabeth chimed in. “When designed correctly, it’s so much more efficient than driving everywhere. Of course, it also helps if the city is designed with public transit in mind instead of trying to graft it on later.”

Grover turned around in his seat to look back to Percy. “Annabeth wants to be an architect.”

“With a healthy understanding of city planning.”

“Wow. That’s really cool.”

“Yeah, Annabeth’s really cool—”

“Ugh, finally.” Annabeth pulled onto the main road in front of the school and turned right. 

“So, Percy. How was your first day?” Grover asked earnestly.

Percy’s mind immediately flashed to Jason. “Fine.”

“How are your classes?” Annabeth asked, slightly less enthusiastically than Grover. 

“Good, but I think Grover and I are the only guys in Home Ec,” he said with a laugh. “It feels kinda weird.”

“Yeah, having your heteronorminative world view shaken can do that to straight guys.” Annabeth kept her tone light, but her words echoed in the car.

Percy took this moment to invest in a dramatic pause. “I’m not straight.”

Annabeth also look a beat to reply. “Oh. Same.”

Percy wished he wasn’t behind the driver’s seat so he could see Annabeth’s face.

She tried again, “I just—”

“No, it’s toally cool to just assume someone’s sexuality, especially when you’re queer yourself.” Percy was smiling, but Annabeth couldn’t see that from the front seat, at least, not without turning around and looking at him, which would kill them all, so he figured she wouldn’t do that. 

“I—!” she started, and she sounded so shocked, Percy decided he should stop dicking her around. He leaned up between the front seats. “I’m fucking with you, Annabeth.”

She huffed and batted him back to his seat. “Fuck you, Percy. I feel like an asshole.”

Percy laughed. “I’m sorry. I know you just wanted to knock the misogyny out of me, but having a single mom kind of did that for me already.”

“Yeah, yeah, we get it. You’re ‘not like other boys.’” They all, including Grover, who had spent the entirety of the previous exchange nervously shifting in the passenger seat, laughed at that. 

They dropped Grover off a few minutes later. Percy moved up to the passenger seat so he didn’t feel like he was in a taxi.

“So, Percy,” Annabeth started when they were back on the road. “Are you expecting me to do this every day for you?”

What? “Uh...no? I mean, if you’re just being nice to the new kid on his first day—I get it.” Percy could feel his cheeks heat. He felt like he never knew what Annabeth was going to say next, like he was dancing some mental dance but he didn’t know the steps.

“But I haven’t—been very nice to you.”

“Annabeth, I really didn’t mean it earlier.”

“I know, but you’re right. My pride got the better of me and I was being a dick,” she paused. “And I’m sorry.”

Woah. “I, uh—I forgive you.”

“Thanks, we’re here.”

Percy looked out the window and sure enough, they were at his house. “Oh, great.” Percy gathered his stuff. 

“I’ll pick you up at 7:15 _exactly_ tomorrow.”

What?? “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” Annabeth smiled.

Okay. So she wasn’t a totally cold-hearted bitch. “Thank you, Annabeth.”

“You’re welcome,” a faint blush tinted her cheeks. Interesting. She held out her hand. “Let me give you my number.”

They traded phones. Annabeth put an owl emoji after her name and Percy put a wave. He was pretty sure that they counted as friends now. Which is not something he thought would happen based on their first encounter. Or the second. Especially not after their tense exchange in the car.

“I’ll start a groupchat with Grover in case we need to further coordinate transportation.”

“Sounds great.”

“Get out of my car.” Okay, so she was still a little bit of a bitch. That was cool. 

Percy appreciated a hard exterior. Usually it meant a very soft and squishy interior, and Percy found himself really wanted to be allowed to see that side of Annabeth. 

“Yup!” Percy hopped out and slung his bag onto his back. “See you in the morning!”

“Bye.”

Percy could solidly say that he had made two friends today. Not too damn bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on tumblr!  
> mugglebornandraised


	3. Blonde

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I was moving and didn't have internet for a while.

“I saw him,” Piper smacked her notebook onto the desk to his right, not caring that every head within a four foot radius immediately turned towards them.

“Saw who?” Jason asked casually.

“Percy” she stage whispered. “We have a class together. I was going to text you, but Frank said you seemed distracted during weight training and I didn’t want to make it worse.”

“Yes, well, thank you for your concern, but I have a class with him, too. So.” Jason lined up his pencil and Big Eraser in the groove at the top of his desk.

“You do!?” She was literally sat on the edge of her seat and gripped the side of his desk for balance. 

Jason continued to not make eye contact with her, or any of the other interested parties he knew were eavesdropping. Gossip always spread remarkably quickly around here. “He’s in Classical Cultures with me, Frank, and Hazel.” 

“So he’s a nerd, too?” Piper propped her chin in her hand and just kept staring at him.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“Do Frank and Hazel know?”

It was at that moment that Frank sat in the seat to Jason’s left. “Do Frank and Hazel know what?” 

“About the new kid,” Piper answered.

Jason tensed. He did _not_ want to have this conversation first thing in the morning. “Piper—”

But, of course, Piper ignored him and kept talking across him to Frank. “Did you see what he’s wearing? He looks like a grungy model.”

“Oh, I think we have a class with him, don’t we Jason?”

“Yeah.” _Please, please, please let this end._

“I think he seems really interesting,” Piper chimed in. 

Jason responded before he could stop himself. “You just think that because he’s from the city.”

“How do you know that?” Frank asked. 

_Shit._ “I just heard—” Jason started, but Piper cut him off.

“They’re neighbors.” Jason gave Piper his best “What the hell is wrong with you??” look. Piper just smiled back in triumph.

“Oh, you’ll have to introduce us, then.” God, Frank was just so earnest. He would probably want to actually be _friends_ with Percy and Jason didn’t think he could handle that. 

Thankfully, the final morning bell rang and it was officially time for Math. 

“Uh huh,” Jason responded. He had never been more glad for class to start in his life. 

 

Lunch found him just as distracted. Jason hadn’t seen Percy in the cafeteria yesterday, but today he was sitting with Annabeth Chase and another kid… Grant? It was something like that. Jason watched Percy take a seat perpendicular to him at the table right in front of Jason’s. He wasn’t immediately in Percy’s eye line, but Percy was directly in his.

“Hello, Jason? Earth to Jason!” He felt something damp and slightly warm slap against his arm. 

“Ugh! Dude!” He looked to see Leo holding a spoon that he had clearly just used to catapult runny mashed potatoes at Jason. “What was that for?” Piper handed him a wad of her napkins to clean up. 

Leo twirled the spoon dexterously across his fingers. “That was, like, the seventh time I’ve said your name. What were you staring at anyway?”

“Nothing.” Jason went back to eating his lunch which was the point of lunchtime, not staring at Percy Jackson. He really should be paying more attention to his friends. He had barely spoken to anyone at the table, he was so wrapped up in his own problems. 

“It kinda looked like you were staring at the new kid,” Frank said before taking a bite of his carefully packed leftovers. 

“I was not!” God, he could feel his cheeks heating. This was not going to go well.

“Why not, he’s certainly something to look at,” Hazel said, gazing at Percy, much to the confusion of the rest of the table. Frank sounded like he was choking. “What? I’ve got eyes like the rest of you! He’s really attractive.”

“Do you have a crush on the new kid?” Leo asked.

“No!” Hazel and Jason answered at the same time. God, Jason just wanted to die. His face was definitely red now.

“That would be awkward for you, Jason, since you’re neighbors and all.” Frank continued eating as he just threw out sensitive information about Jason’s personal life like he didn’t even care. Which he didn’t. Probably because it wasn’t _actually_ sensitive information and Jason was just being weird and paranoid, but he didn’t know how to stop! It felt like this was all slipping out of his control. This wasn’t life-shattering information, afterall.

It was definitely shocking news to Leo, though. “They’re _what?_ ” 

Jason turned to Piper, begging. “Piper, please.”

“Dude, I can’t help you with this. My powers of persuasion only go so far.” 

Jason could feel himself spiralling. He had to leave. “Ugh! I do not have a crush on the new kid.” He pushed his chair back and stood quickly. He barely registered it scrape against the linoleum. “In fact, I think Percy Jackson is an asshole!” Jason didn’t realize how loud he was until he heard the silence that followed. He helplessly looked over to Percy and saw him staring back.

He’d heard.

“I—” Jason started, but his voice was caught in his throat.

Percy turned away and muttered something to Annabeth on his right. Then, he grabbed his bag and left without even bussing his tray. 

Jason’s table was silent as they all watched Percy leave. Jason slunk down into his seat and the lunchroom returned to its normal noise level. Even so, it took a few moments for anyone at Jason’s table to speak.

Of course, it was Leo who finally said something. “Jason, what the fuck?” 

Frank stood up, lunchbox in hand. “Bell’s about to ring. We should go.” 

“Yeah,” Hazel agreed. “See you in class.” They both dumped their trash in the trashcan near the door. Hazel glanced back at their table before leaving behind Frank. She looked confused, mostly, but also hurt. Like Jason had said that about her, personally. Jason’s stomach plummeted to his knees.

Leo continued to stare at Jason as he left the table without saying anything else. A speechless Leo was not a good thing. At all. 

Then it was just Jason and Piper. “You don’t have anything to say?” He crossed his arms and braced himself for a tirade.

Piper paused. “I think the others kind of covered it.”

Jason didn’t reply. They both sat in tense silence.

“You’re coming on Saturday, right?” Piper asked as she cleaned up the remaining trash at their table.

“I don’t think I’ll have time.”

“Jason, come on! Being so wound up clearly isn’t good for you.”

“Piper, I have homework.”

“On a Saturday night? I mean honestly, Jason. Your previous behavior definitely shows that you are stressed out and need to blow off steam in a major way.”

“Pipes…” Jason started throwing his trash haphazardly onto his tray.

“I’m not taking ‘no’ for an answer on this.” Her Serious voice was very persuasive. 

Jason forced out a sigh. “You said it was Saturday?”

“Yep! Let me know if you want to carpool.”

“If anyone is even talking to me after this.”

Piper flapped her hand dismissively. “It’ll blow over. But, like, seriously,” she laid her hand on his arm, “cool your jets about Percy. And apologize. You should definitely apologize for your impromptu public condemnation.”

Jason glanced at Percy’s now vacant seat. “You’re right.”

“I know! Now, get to class. Lateness is not becoming.”

. . . 

Now, people were whispering, not just staring. The staring honestly wasn’t unusual, but it generally took Percy at least a week to make enough of a splash to cause whispering. Jason had managed to accomplish it in an instant.

_In fact, I think Percy Jackson is an asshole!_

The words banged around in his head. What the fuck had he ever done to Jason Grace to warrant a public lunchtime callout? They had barely had an actual conversation with each other.

Percy stumbled when someone knocked his shoulder from behind.

“Move it, asshole.”

Seriously? 

No. Fuck this. Fuck this school. Fuck this town. And Fuck Jason Grace.

He should skip. Why put himself through a full class with Him?

But it was only the second day of school, he shouldn’t skip. That was actually not the reputation he wanted to cultivate right out of the gate.

He would go to class. He would just sit elsewhere—away from Jason.

 

Percy opened the door to the classroom and picked the back corner closest to the door and fully across the room from where he sat yesterday. Perfect.

Percy’s ass had barely touched the seat when the door opened and a kid Percy had never seen before locked eyes with him. He looked kind of like Jason, but...off. Jason looked tall and strong and powerful, but this kid looked lanky and shifty, like he’d rather throw a knife in your back than fight you face to face. Percy instantly disliked him.

“Get out.” He almost sounded offended that he even had to say anything, as if Percy should just know what he should do. It was unsettling and honestly, pretty insulting. 

“What?”

The kid took a step forward. “You’re in my seat, get out.”

“Uh, okay?” Oh yeah, this was going _wonderfully_. Really, Percy was just a master at comebacks right now. 

“Now.” The kid was full-on glaring at Percy, and it was starting to really piss him off. Who the fuck was this kid to go around telling him what to do? He looked like he’d fall over in a strong wind.

Percy seemed to regain his voice, finally. “You know, I don’t think I will. It doesn’t have your name on it. We don’t even have assigned seats in this class.” Percy leaned back and crossed his arms. This guy was not getting him to move anywhere. 

The kid approached,obviously seething. 

“Get out of my seat. I’m not going to tell you again.”

“Is that a promise?” 

The dude’s face was starting to flush with anger. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“A dick?” What was up with blond- haired, blue-eyed assholes in his life? What was this, three now? It just seemed really statistically unlikely at his age for the Venn Diagram of “blonde-haired and blue-eyed people he’d met” and “assholes” to be a fucking circle.

“I am Octavian.” He said it like it was a pronouncement, like Percy should fall to his knees in front of him. 

“Hi, I’m Percy. Unpleasant to meet you.” Percy did not offer his hand for a handshake. 

Octavian stepped up to the desk and leaned over Percy. “I’m not someone you want as an enemy, Percy.” Drops of spittle landed on Percy’s face as Octavian spoke. “I am a man of a great and powerful legacy.”

“Dude, what the fuck—”

“Is there a problem?” Mr. Brunner was at the door with what looked like the majority of the rest of the class behind him. 

Octavian turned around. “Mr. Brunner—” Octavian’s voice was suddenly sickly sweet and Percy was aghast, “—the new kid won’t let me have my seat, but it’s the only one with easy access to the outlet and I have to have my computer, it’s part of my ADHD accommodation, as you know.”

_Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me._

Mr. Brunner sighed. “Unfortunately, Octavian is correct. Percy, I’m going to have to ask you to vacate that desk and inhabit another. Perhaps the one you claimed as your own yesterday?” Mr. Brunner wheeled the rest of the way into the classroom and the other students quickly took their seats. 

Percy maintained eye contact with the now smirking shithead as he gathered his bag and made his way across the classroom. He dropped his bag at the desk and barely restrained himself from forcefully dropping himself into the chair. He didn’t want to give Octavian the satisfaction. 

 

The rest of the class passed quickly, if annoyingly. Percy was sure that Octavian was clacking his keyboard more than strictly necessary.

As soon as the bell rang, though, there was a person standing next to Percy’s desk.

“Hey, you got a sec?” It was Jason. Fuck. 

Percy just looked up expectantly. He didn’t trust himself to not say something obnoxious.

“I just...I wanted to say I’m sorry—for lunch. I shouldn’t have said that, I don’t even really know you, and it was mean.”

“Thanks.” Percy said flatly before he grabbed his bag. Jason didn’t leave. 

“Are you sure—”

“Look, man. I don’t care. You wanna be a dick to me, be a dick to me. Doesn’t matter. I’ve dealt with a lot worse than you.” Perct stood, but Jason didn’t move out of his way. 

They both stood there for a moment, almost nose to nose in the tight space between the desks. Jason was about an inch and a half taller than him and Percy was acutely aware that this was the closest they’d ever been to each other. 

“You gonna let me by?” Percy asked, angling his chin defiantly.

The question seemed to shake Jason out of his thoughts, and he stepped to the side. 

Percy walked out of the room, past Jason’s two _very_ confused friends and towards the safety of Hestia and a mostly female class. He liked girls. He fit in with girls, and girls tended to be nicer to him, so he welcomed the change of pace. 

 

Apparently, though, the girls at Olympus didn’t get the “Be nice to Percy” memo that the Universe usually sent out. Or, at least, one girl specifically did not get said memo. 

They were doing their first lab, which was cooking (yay!). They had 45 minutes to make a stack of blueberry pancakes and a stack of chocolate chip pancakes. There was, like, a whole thing about the difference in cooking with fresh fruit versus chocolate, but Percy tuned it all out when he was told he couldn’t use food coloring to dye them blue. Blueberry might be his favorite kind of pancake, but blue blueberry pancakes were Manna from God.

The fun really began when Percy set his large bowl of pancake mix on the end of the counter so he could grab the mix-ins from Grover and a very tall girl with brown hair passed by and the bowl fell off the counter. Now, Percy didn’t see this girl swat his project onto the floor, but Percy saw her sneer as she returned to her station behind him, so he felt he had some pretty good evidence that she did it. 

Percy turned to address her. “Are you gonna clean that up?” Honestly, he was itching for a fight after the shit day he’d had. 

She grinned angrily. Percy didn’t know that was a thing, but that was the only way the knew to describe her expression. “Why would I do that?” She spoke a bit of a Southern drawl, which was just not what he expected her to sound like at all.

Before he could respond, the dark-haired girl next to her put her hand on the Batter-Splatterer’s shoulder. “Clarisse, _mon chérie_.” She said it like she really spoke French, not like she was just saying it to be cute. 

Clarisse looked at her, her angry smile turned into a genuinely soft expression. “Yes, _cher_?” The dark-haired girl shook her head and went back to adding chocolate chips to a smaller bowl of batter. 

Clarisse turned back to him. “You’re lucky. Count your blessings, _Fonchock_.” Now, Percy didn’t know what the fuck that meant, but he could tell it was definitely not a compliment and he supposed he would have to add this girl to his list of “People Who Have it Out For Percy.”

Clarisse also went back to her work, her hand on the other girl’s lower back. 

_So much for solidarity._

Percy let out a very frustrated huff as he grabbed a roll of paper towels and started cleaning up _Clarisse’s_ mess.

There was about half of the mixture left in the bowl, so that was good, he and Grover wouldn’t have to start all over again. They would just need to halve the recipe. Ugh. Fucking math. 

Percy set the bowl on the counter. 

“Grover, are you good at math?”

Grover kept fiddling with the temperature knob on the griddle. “Yeah, pretty good.”

“Great ‘cause we need to replace half of the batter now.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, I can do that. But,” he turned on his stool to face Percy, “hey, are you, you know, okay?”

Percy let out another sigh. “Yeah, I just—blondes are really mean to me.”

“Blondes?”

“Blondes, plus fucking—” Percy gestured vaguely behind himself, “—her”

“Was someone else mean to you? Besides Jason? Sorry, probably shouldn’t bring that up. Wait, you don’t mean Annabeth, do you? Because she really didn’t mean it in the car yesterday and I know she can be abrasive to new people, but she’s really nice.”

“No, I don’t mean Annabeth. Do you know this guy…Octavius?”

“Octavian?”

“Yeah, Octavian, whatever.”

“Why were you talking to Octavian?”

“Well, I wasn’t _talking_ to him.” Percy needed something to do with his hands. Pouring the blueberries and chocolate chips into different bowls sounded good. “He’s in my Classical Cultures class and apparently I sat in his seat, which is apparently a fucking crime! And we...got into a bit of an—altercation. But it’s fine, I mean, Mr. Brunner came in and I moved. I just...I didn’t want to have to sit next to fucking _Jason_ again ‘cause he’s awful, but I did anyway, which sucked, but then! He, like, apologized which was still weird and we, like, stared at each other, but we were really close together? It was very weird.”

Grover took a moment to absorb Percy’s word vomit. “I mean, it’s good that he apologized?”

“Yeah, I fucking deserved an apology!”

“You did!”

“I don’t know what’s going on this has been a really weird day for me. In a bad way.” There were no more mix-ins to sort and Percy was pretty sure he’d dirtied every bowl at their station. 

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Percy laid his head on the counter. “I’ll just die.” 

“Percy,” Grover admonished.

He huffed “I’m a Leo, let me be dramatic.”

“Okay, well you let me know when you’re done being dramatic and wanna talk. About anything.”

Percy hummed his agreement. 

 

Grover was able to halve the recipe, so the two of them successfully created their assigned stacks of pancakes, which they ate while filling out their “lab report” which, as far as Percy could tell, was what gave the class the objective material to actually grade, and Hestia made it really easy. It honestly seemed like you’d have to try really hard to fail, which was Percy’s favorite kind of class. 

The ease of the class also allowed them all about 10 minutes of collective free time before the end of school. Percy was midway through packing his bag when he sensed someone behind him.

“Percy, right?”

He turned. “Um, yes?”

The girl smiled at him and Percy’s tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. She was pretty. Like, really pretty. The kind of pretty that had no business talking to him. Her hair was braided to one side and she had absolutely perfectly flawless skin. 

“I’m Piper.”

“Okay, hi.” _Nice one, Percy._ God, today he was just really hit or miss verbally.

“Listen, Jason—” Percy felt his face drop at the name, “—he feels really bad about what happened at lunch. I know he apologized, but Hazel—” her eyes slid over to where another girl was sitting at the table across the aisle from them, “—said it didn’t go...great.”

“Yeah?” Percy did recognize the other girl from Classical Cultures. She seemed very intent on not looking their way, though. 

“I just—I wanted to tell you that he’s not usually like that. I mean, he never speaks ill of anyone.”

“Glad to know I’m special.”

“Look...Okay, I’m having a party on Saturday. It’s like an “end of the summer last hurrah” kind of thing. You can bring whoever you want, I mean, within reason,” she smiled again. 

“So I shouldn’t invite the whole football team?”

“Oh, they’re already gonna be there.”

“Oh, okay.” Was she like, trying to make a joke? Trying to be his friend? But she was Jason’s friend. He could understand wanting to apologize for his shitty behavior, but a party invite seemed...weird.

“So, will you come? I swear, this isn’t, like, a really cliquey school. At least, I don’t care about stuff like that.”

He felt like he couldn’t just tell her ‘no.’ “I’ll think about it.”

“Okay!” God, her smile was so pretty why was she so pretty what was even happening right now? “Okay, great. Let me give you the address and my number in case you have questions or anything.”

“Yeah, sure.” Percy handed over his phone.

When she handed it back, there was a new contact: Piper with a dove emoji. Cute. 

“Awesome! And, listen. Jason, will get over himself. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Okay.” Threatening. Percy could dig that. Maybe she _was_ just trying to be nice to him. She seemed to be the only one at school interested in doing that. Besides Grover. And Annabeth? Annabeth at least tolerated him, he knew that for sure.

The bell rang. 

“It was nice to meet you!” Piper said as she went back to grab her things. 

“You too.”

“Uh, hey, Percy?” Speaking of Grover, they were still sitting next to each other. 

Percy shook himself out of whatever hormone-induced stupor he was in. “Yeah, Grover?”

“Did Piper McLean just invite you to a party?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if I want to go, though.”

“Dude—listen to me—you have to go, that’s _Piper McLean_.”

“What, is she, like, the Queen of the popular kids?” Percy could believe that. She seemed like the type of girl others would follow. 

“That’s _Tristan McLean’s_ daughter.”

Percy was sure he heard an audible record-scratch at that name drop. “Like, Tristan McLean? The _King of Sparta_ Tristan McLean?”

“Yes!” Grover was almost bouncing out of his seat.

“Dude, what the fuck is she even doing here? Shouldn’t she be in L.A. or New York or something?”

“Her parents decided she should be raised around her mom’s family, out of the public eye.”

“Oh my god and she just invited me to a party.”

“You _have to go_!” Grover was bouncing in his seat.

“I have to go! Do you want to go with me?”

“Uh, yeah I do!”

“We should invite Annabeth. She can drive us to wherever the fuck this place is!” 

“Dude, I can’t believe we’re going to a Piper McLean party.”

“Dude, I can’t believe I talked to Piper McLean!”

The classroom had cleared out, so they both shouldered their respective bags.THey couldn’t keep Annabeth waiting, afterall.

“Still want to just die?” Grover asked wryly and they made their way to the hallway.

“Hell no, things are finally looking up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come hang out with me on tumblr!  
> mugglebornandraised.tumblr.com


	4. Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead!
> 
> Also, a lot happens here to buckle tf up.

Percy considered himself a generally talented person. Of course, he was particularly good at athletic things, like swimming, but significantly less talented at art, drawing specifically. He liked art, though, and he really appreciated that kind of talent in other people.

Percy found himself full of such admiration, however begrudgingly, on Wednesday morning as he stood with Grover in front of his locker.

“What is it?” Grover asked, head cocked to the side as he studied the artwork. 

It took Percy a moment to gather his words. “I think, and granted I am no expert in this particular medium, but I think that it’s me...but my face is a butthole.” The simple sheet of printer paper canvas had an incredibly accurate depiction of himself with a dark, puckered butthole starting from where his nose should be. Percy had never seen _his_ butthole in person, since it was on the other side of him from his eyes, but judging from his knowledge of buttholes in general, this was definitely a very well-executed rendition.

Grover tilted his head to the other side and squinted. “Oh, yeah. I definitely see it now.”

“Who would do this? Who would have the time to do this? How does anyone even know where my locker is?”

Grover shrugged out a sigh. “Gossip travels fast around here. It’s uncanny.”

“Should I do something about this?” Percy asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the full-color illustration. His alter-ego had his hands on his hips. Percy recognized the pose as one intended to hide the artist’s lack of skill in drawing hands. He knew this because he utilized it in every mandatory art class he had ever taken.

“You could take it to the Principal,” Grover suggested.

“I—I kinda want to keep it. Is that weird?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty weird,” Grover answered after a moment. 

“It’s just—the shading. I mean, it’s, like, technicolor! So much time and effort went into this. I respect it.”

“Even though it’s you but your face is a butthole?” Grover asked, clearly skeptical.

“Even though it’s me but my face is a butthole,” Percy deadpanned.

“You’re really weird, Percy.”

Percy shrugged. “Game recognizes Game.” And with that, Percy removed the picture from the front of his locker and proceeded to open said locker to prepare for the rest of whatever the fuck was waiting for him on this Wednesday, the Third Whole Day of School.

 

Percy and Grover were about two feet from the door of their Chemistry class when someone shouted at him. “Hey, Percy Jackson, hold up!”

A short-ish Latino kid was jogging up to them, waving. He grinned at them. “Hey dude, what’s up?”

“Uhh…” Percy focused on keeping up with this _random stranger’s_ multi-step handshake-into-a-bro-hug as if he knew what the fuck was going on.

“Hey, so listen, my man Jason—” _Jesus Christ how many fucking friends does this dude have?_ “—He’s being a dick, which is like a Class A Felony for him because he’s just, like, A Nice Guy™.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Yeah, I know you haven’t seen a good side of him, and honestly, I wouldn’t blame you if you never want to see his stupid face ever again, I mean, I’m his friend and I’m _pretty_ pissed about the whole ‘Percy Jackson is an asshole’ thing at lunch, but I really hope you come to Piper’s lakeside _hacienda_ for her little get-together. Those things are always, just, super fun and we get, like, super wasted and just sleep all of the next day. It’s great.”

The guy didn’t seem to take a breath through his whole speech. 

“...Okay,” Percy said, still bewildered by this entire interaction.

“Great! That’s great man, really big of you, taking the high road and all—we should get to class now.”

The guy stepped over the threshold then gestured for Percy and Grover to enter. They were in the same class? How many of Jason’s friends were in his classes?!

As soon as Grover was sitting in his seat, Percy was asking questions. 

“What the fuck just happened? Who was that? How many people are in Jason’s camp of followers?”

“That was Leo Valdez. Honestly, he’s like that with everyone—real social. He’s a drama kid like Piper and he’d probably get into way more trouble if it weren’t for the Stoll brothers’ antics.”

Percy glanced around the room to find where Leo was sitting—back corner with a lanky dark-haired boy. It happened to be Percy’s usual go-to seat in any given classroom. Leo and the other kid were passing notes and snickering. Percy knew what mischief looked like, and Leo and his lab partner looked like poster children for it.

“That’s a Stoll brother sitting with him, isn’t it?”

“Yup. That should be Conner, ‘cause he’s younger, but sometimes they switch. It’s very Fred and George.”

Percy filed that information away for later. “It’s not a good thing that they’re sitting together, is it?”

“Nope. Not at all.”

“Well, at least they’ll take some of the attention off me.”

Grover gave him a pat on the back. “Hey, yeah! Silver linings!”

 

“Why is Leo following us?” Percy whispered angrily as they walked down the hallway towards their next class.

“What?” Grover replied, matching Percy’s volume. “He has Math III with us.”

Percy almost dropped Grover’s backpack that he was carrying. “Since when?”

“Since always?” Grover gave him a look at said “I am very concerned about you right now.”

Percy suddenly felt like the ceiling was pressing down on him. “Do I have a single class that isn’t with Jason or one of his friends?”

“...No?”

“Oh my god,” Percy’s head leaned back as his shoulders climbed up to his ears with tension. “I can’t fucking escape that guy.”

Annabeth walked up to Grover’s right side. “What are we whispering about?” 

“Percy met Leo and we realized that every class Percy has includes a friend of Jason.”

“Ouch. What did Leo want?” Annabeth leaned forward to catch Percy’s eye.

“To say he was sorry Jason was being a dickweed and he hoped I was going to Piper’s party.”

Annabeth groaned. “We don’t really have to go to that, do we?”

“Yes!” Percy and Grover said at the same time. 

“I don’t know what you guys are expecting. They aren’t that fun.”

“Annabeth,” Grover huffed, “You went to one in Middle School. They’re completely different now...I think.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, there’ll be more alcohol. That doesn’t mean it’ll be more fun.”

“But, Annabeth,” Percy whipped around to face his friends, walking backwards through the crowd of kids going to their next class. “ _I’ll_ be there! That’s a guaranteed good time!” He winked for dramatic effect. 

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “I honestly have no idea why we are entertaining the idea _at all_. Did you just forget what happened yesterday? You know _he’s_ going to be there, right?”

“But Piper seems really nice and like she wants to fix it.” Percy pulled out the puppy-dog eyes. 

Annabeth just glared. “I don’t trust that shit at all.”

“Okay…Okay! Here’s the thing, though. If I don’t go, the bullies win, and it’ll only get worse from here.” He paused. “Also, we physically can’t get there without you.”

Annabeth seemed entirely unmoved. 

“Just—think of it like a quest! Yeah, like we’re going there to slay some Big Bad and if we succeed, we’ll be heroes!”

Annabeth closed her eyes. “I get that you’re trying to appeal to my desire to always win, and I’m not saying that it’s not working, but going on a quest to Piper McLean’s stupid party should be, like, the absolute _last_ resort for saving your reputation. I can think of at least three things, right now, that would be better than that.”

“How many of them include sexual favors?”

“...None?”

Percy nodded. “Probably for the best.”

 

“Grover, can you explain it to me again? Please?”

“Nope,” Grover replied. “Annabeth, it’s your turn.”

She sighed. “Fine. Like he said, it’s called Math III because it’s the third math that you take in High School. It’s like the third level.”

“That makes no fucking sense,” Percy whined. 

“It would if you’d taken Math I and II.”

“Why can’t we just take a normal math like Geometry or Trig?”

“We will. It’s just all mixed in.”

“This is the worst educational system I’ve ever been in, and that’s saying something because I’ve been in a lot.”

“Just go get in line and I’ll let you borrow my notes.” Annabeth held out her hand for Percy’s backpack. Over the past three days they’d gotten into an unspoken habit of him leaving his bag with them while he got his lunch since Annabeth and Grover both brought theirs everyday. It was reassuring, like he was staking a claim as a part of this group. And it meant having a guaranteed seat for lunch which was sometimes hard to come by as a New Kid. 

Percy saluted Annabeth and joined the line for cafeteria food while she and Grover went to their usual table, lunchboxes in hand.

Unfortunately for Percy, the cafeteria desperately lacked any kind of stock of blue food, and if the lunchroom personnel were to be believed, never would—except for blueberries, which were more purple than blue and therefore didn’t count.

He threw a wink to the woman behind the partition and she shook her head but still gave him an extra large helping of mac and cheese. Margaret was a dear, afterall. 

Percy smiled all the way out of the lunch line and didn’t even fumble typing in his student ID number so that the mysterious computer system could “charge” his “account.” He honestly couldn’t explain it if he was kidnapped and waterboarded. He hadn’t had to provide any of his mom’s bank information, so it wasn’t like it was pulling money out of an actual account, and there wasn’t a meal plan that he’d had to buy. He figured he would burn that bridge when he got to it anyway, so best not to worry about it now.

He’d barely taken three steps back into the lunchroom before his Spidey-sense yelled “DANGER” and his tray fell out of his hands and onto the floor. 

“Oops. I'm so sorry.” Percy looked up from the mess of pasta and cheese at his feet to see a guy with an eyepatch staring back at him. The kid was maybe an inch or so shorter than Percy, but still looked strong as hell and just as intimidating. 

Percy took a moment to pick his jaw off the floor at the sheer audacity before speaking. “What the _fuck_ dude?” Okay, so maybe it was more like yelling. But this was the _second_ time that someone had purposefully knocked his food to the ground! Why was _this_ the thing that every asshole decided was the perfect form of intimidation? Like, yeah, it worked, but it was going to get really repetitive after a while. 

“Octavian sends his regards.” The guy smirked like he’d just said something really clever. 

Percy could physically feel every ounce of chill leave him. “This isn’t Game of Thrones! What the _fuck_ are you _talking_ about?” Percy shoved the guy’s shoulder on the expletive.

“Hey.” The dude swayed back a bit and looked confused at his victim fighting back. Good. Percy loved being underestimated. 

Percy heard at least one teacher approach the stand off, but that felt like it was happening on a different planet from where he was facing down his pirate bully. “Are you gonna pay for a new lunch or what?” 

“Ethan,” a voice clearly belonging to an adult shouted as it approached. “What seems to be the problem here?”

The kid’s expression changed from confused anger to innocence in a moment, but Ethan’s body still held the tension of someone bracing for a fight. “Nothing, Mr. Enyalius. The new kid dropped his lunch.”

“No I didn’t. Ethan,” Percy said it dripping with contempt, “knocked it out of my hands and then referenced the Red Wedding.”

“Well, I didn't see Mr. Nakamura do anything like that. But, I did hear some choice words come out of your mouth, Jackson. We don’t tolerate that kind of language around here, and putting your hands on another student? Definitely against the rules. You’re coming with me.”

“What?” What kind of fucking teacher was this? Weren’t they _both_ supposed to get in trouble?

“Principal’s office. Now.”

Percy refused to let his shoulders sag. He gave Ethan one last look of “If I ever see you again, I’ll punch you so hard your dentist will shit teeth,” and followed Mr. Enyalius (which was a name he definitely wouldn’t be able to spell) through the hallways. They didn’t speak and luckily the lunchroom was pretty close to the front office, so Percy didn’t have time to open his mouth and make everything worse. Not that this could get much worse. 

Mr. Enya knocked twice on the door marked “Principal” and a gruff and very angry “Come in!” answered. He smiled at Percy and gestured for him to enter. Percy felt like this would be the moment in _Star Wars_ when Han Solo would say “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” and then very bad things would happen. 

But what was the worst that could happen? He couldn’t die, this was a Principal, he couldn’t cause Percy any physical harm. Just the emotional kind which would take years and lots of therapy to heal. 

Percy sat in one of the two wooden chairs across from a vast desk carved with grapevines that snaked their way up the front panels. The whole room had a chemically saccharine smell to it like someone had sprayed fake sweetener instead of Febreeze. Percy looked to his left to see a wire mesh trash bin overflowing with empty Diet Coke cans, which was weird, but definitely not as weird as staring at the back of a high-backed leather chair like he was in a Bond villain's lair. 

Percy did a quick survey of the desk. Mostly papers with various purple paperweights sitting on top, one picture frame that Percy couldn’t see the front of, and a nameplate front and center. 

“Hi, uh, Mr...D? Is that your whole last name?”

“It’s all of my last name you need to know, kid.” The chair swung around to reveal Mr. D, who was about a foot shorter than Percy had anticipated and looked like a red-faced Danny Devito with curly jet-black hair. Actually, Phil from the underrated Disney classic _Hercules?_ That. 

Before Percy could help it, his head tilted like a confused labrador.

“So, Peter Johnson—”

“Percy Jackson?”

“—whatever. You got in a fight at lunch? And on the third day of school?” 

“I wouldn’t exactly call it a fight.”

“Doesn’t matter. You laid hands in a violent manner on another student during school hours. According to the handbook, that’s cause for a three-day suspension.”

Percy almost lept out of his chair. “What?!”

“Listen,” Mr. D tossed his now-empty can of Diet Coke in the vicinity of the waste bin. “I don’t want to suspend you. You know why I don’t want to do that? Because that’s a lot of paperwork and I don’t like paperwork. But you know what I hate worse than paperwork? Problems. Now, you’re not gonna be a problem, are you Mr. Jackman?”

“It’s Jackson.”

“Sure it is. Now answer the question.”

“No, I will not be a problem.” Percy recited the words like he had said them hundreds of times. Which he had. They never really seemed to work, though. 

“Great! Now, I can’t send you back to class because the rest of the football players will knock you silly, and then I’ll _have_ to suspend _them_ , which means they can’t play football, which means I will have very angry parents calling my office and I do not need that in my life. So,” Mr. D cracked open another Diet Coke that had appeared out of nowhere. “How about you leave for the rest of the day, I call whoever tucks you in at night to come get you, and you can just make mayhem somewhere else? Think of it as an unofficial suspension. Deal?”

Percy hesitated. “Do you have to call my mom?”

“Do you have a car?”

“No.”

“Then yes.”

“Fine.”

“Great! Pleasure doing business with you! Now get out and go sit in the hallway.”

Percy got up and heard Mr. D sigh like he was in a Diet Coke commercial.

_Something tells me he doesn’t have boys to crack open a cold one with._ Percy let himself smile as he plopped himself in the corner of the cold, wooden bench outside the office door. 

He pulled out his phone and typed up a text to his mom. 

_Let me explain._

He counted to 40 before he sent it. He figured it wouldn’t take Mr. D too long to find his mom’s number in his file, but he didn’t want his text to get to her _too_ soon and worry her. He had learned through the years of navigating the troubled waters of getting sent home from school that it was all in the timing. 

It was at that moment that Percy realized Annabeth still had his backpack. _Shit._

“Jason!” a sharp voice said down the hallway. “Just do it.” Footsteps started coming his way. 

_Fuck._

_Fuck shit goddamn bitch motherfucker shit cunt twat FUCK!_

This was not what he needed right now. This was not what he needed right now at all.

Percy kept hold of his phone and started scrolling through apps, but he couldn’t take his attention off the approaching footsteps. 

They arrived with Jason, because of course Percy couldn’t be spared from his presence even when he got suspended. 

“Uh,” Jason started. “You left your bag.” Jason held it towards him.

Percy reached for it after a moment. How the fuck had Jason gotten his bag? “Thanks?” He didn’t think it was fair to be a total dick to him for no reason, and if their fingers touched a little during the exchange it totally wasn’t on purpose and absolutely not a big deal.

Jason shifted uncomfortably. “Piper told Annabeth—It doesn’t matter.” Which was a great explanation and totally didn’t open up a whole line of questions in Percy’s head. “I saw what happened.”

“Yeah, you and half the lunchroom.”

“Are you okay?”

“As okay as an ‘unofficial suspension’ can leave me.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Jason shoved his hands in his pockets. “Really, I—I feel like this is my fault…”

Percy crossed his arms and leaned further back on the bench. “It wasn’t.” The adjustment meant Percy was closer to Jason, their knees almost touching. Jason didn’t move. “Ethan is apparently Octavian’s bitch. Who, by the way, needs to lay off the Game of Thrones. ‘Octavian sends his regards’ really isn’t the one-liner he thinks it is. But it didn’t have anything to do with you, Wonderboy.”

Jason seemed genuinely confused. “Octavian?” 

Either Jason didn’t get Percy’s _Hercules_ reference, or he was choosing to ignore it. Either way, Percy tried not to think about the implications of Jason being Hercules and him being Meg in this situation. “Yeah. I don’t think he likes me.”

“That’s...I mean he’s…”

“A dick?”

Jason gave him a half-smile and Percy felt a traitorous thrill run through him.

“Yeah,” Jason agreed. “I’ll talk to him about it today at practice.”

“ _Octavian_ is on the _football team?_ ”

Jason really did smile at that, gave a bit of a laugh even. “No. He’s the manager. He’s got a real head for ruthless strategy.”

“Yeah, I gathered,” Percy responded flatly.

“Yeah...Well, anyway, I think I can get him off your tail.”

Percy’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need you to save me from Octavian.” Fuck, he was definitely Meg.

Jason looked confused again. “I’m not trying to save you. I’m trying to help you. And, you know, make amends—for yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah, I never properly thanked you for that. You’ve really helped turn the court of public opinion against me.”

Jason sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Percy absolutely did _not_ stare at his flexing bicep. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve apologized before, but...I mean, it’s like toothpaste.”

_What?_ “What?”

There was that blush again. Percy hadn’t seen it since Summer, which really wasn’t that long ago, but it felt like forever. “It’s like...you know, you can’t—can’t get it back in the tube.” Jason made some abortive hand gestures that must have been him trying to mime putting toothpaste back in the tube, but it just came off looking uncomfortably sexual.

“Yeah,” Percy said skeptically. “Right.”

Jason coughed. “Anyway, I’m gonna figure out a way to make it up to you—to fix it. Cause that,” Jason gestured back towards the lunchroom, “wasn’t me. At least, that’s not who I want to be.”

Percy shifted and propped his elbow on the arm of the bench. Wood benches were not comfortable for long periods of sitting or weird, uncomfortable conversations. “Yeah, everyone keeps telling me what a stand up, wonderful guy you’re supposed to be.”

“Uh…” Again with the blushing. 

“And I mean, what can you even do? Like you said, it’s out there, I’ve been branded. And now I’m suspended, which I’m sure will only add to my newfound reputation. So, what are you gonna do? You can’t exactly tell the whole school that I’m not as much of an asshole as you were previously led to believe.”

“I don’t think you’re an asshole,” Jason said really seriously. “At all.”

“Okay.” Percy felt like his stomach was doing jumping jacks in his throat at being on the receiving end of Jason’s sudden intensity. 

There was a pause. A really, really long pause where neither of them seemed willing to break the tension.

Until Jason finally did. “I’ll think of something.” Jason turned and started walking away. “See you around, Jackson,” he called over his shoulder. Percy could see that his face was still a bit red. 

Percy made finger guns. “Back at ‘cha.” It sounded lame, even to him.

Goddammit. He was not going to allow his undeniable physical attraction to Jason cloud the fact that Jason wasn’t as great as everyone else thought he was. Percy pulled up Instagram and scrolled through Jason’s posts to remind him of just the kind of shallow, meatheaded, fuckboy guy he was. 

He did that for 15 minutes until his mom arrived, flustered and upset. 

“Oh my god, Percy! Are you okay? They told me you got in a fight!” She held his head in her hands looking for damage. 

“It’s wasn’t a fight. Just...an altercation.”

Once she confirmed that he was fine, her face hardened a bit, not in anger, but in disappointment, which was way, way worse. “Get in the car. I’ll sign you out.”

Percy sighed and slung his backpack over his shoulder, stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked to the car. This was gonna be a long ride home.

. . .

“So? Is he okay? What happened?” Hazel and Frank were loitering in the hallway waiting for him.

Jason tried to control his breathing, hoping that would make his blush go away faster. He was pretty sure that the image of Percy with his legs spread open like a friggin’ invitation was so deeply seared into his brain stem it would show up on an MRI. His mouth went dry at just the memory.

“Yeah, he got suspended, but he seemed okay.” And, God, Jason still felt so guilty. Which maybe was self-centered of him to think that Percy’s problems all related back to him, but some of it was definitely his fault. Which begged the question: what had happened with Octavian?

“I guess it could have been worse,” Hazel said handing Jason his own backpack. He hadn’t had a chance to grab it between Piper shoving Percy’s bag into his arms and manhandling him out of the lunchroom.

“He said Ethan was doing it for Octavian because he doesn’t like Percy.”

Hazel rolled her eyes. “Of course it’s Octavian. Hes so fucking full of himself.” Hazel made a three-fingered claw and pushed it away from her. She said it was an ancient symbol to ward off evil her mom had taught her.

“So what are we going to do about it?” Frank asked. 

Jason smiled at Frank’s use of the word “we.” It was nice to know that his friends still cared, given what a dickwad he’d been recently. “I think we should have a chat with him at practice, don’t you?”

Frank smiled back. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

A plan started to form in his mind. _You can’t exactly tell the whole school that I’m not as much of an asshole as you were previously led to believe._ “Hazel, think you can sneak out of Home Ec a bit early?”

“Absolutely.” The dead certainty in her voice made him smile. 

“I need you to find Will before he does the afternoon announcements.”

Her eyes narrowed in hesitant excitement. “You’re plotting. What are you plotting?”

Jason shrugged. “I think I might have thought up a way to make it up to him, that’s all.”

Hazel and Frank exchanged a look that Jason pointedly ignored. This was a _friendly_ big gesture to make things up to the guy whose social life he accidentally ruined. Totally normal and also totally necessary and totally not motivated by any possible feelings of attraction he may or may not have for Percy.

 

“Octavian!” Jason shouted across the field where Octavian was setting up the water station on the sideline.

“Ah, Jason Grace. How are you today?”

“This isn’t a social visit.” Jason could feel Frank behind him crossing his arms and looking like a very intimidating linebacker.

Octavian was an idiot and he clearly picked up on the shift in energy. “Oh? Then what is it?”

Jason often thought it was best to cut to the chase. Piper was the one who could negotiate and haggle. “Leave Percy alone.” 

Octavian laughed, lightly and as fake as Jason had ever seen. “The new kid? Who says I’m doing anything to him?”

“ ‘Octavian sends his regards?’ Not exactly subtle.”

Octavian’s eyes flicked up to Frank and he crossed his arms, too. “I didn’t know you cared, Jason. I seem to remember you publicly condemning him yesterday, rather loudly, I might add.”

“Well, I do. So call off Ethan and the goon squad.”

“Of course! But, I make no guarantees about the behavior of those who choose to act in my name. I do not control their every move, after all.” Octavian gave a sly smile.

Jason stepped closer and lowered his voice. “If you don’t, I’ll tell Mr. D about your attempts to rig the semi-final games last year.”

Octavian paled and also dropped into a sotto voce. “You have no proof of any such actions.”

Jason stepped even closer. “Don’t I?” Jason held his gaze firmly for a moment before backing off. “Call off your ‘friends,’ Octavian. And leave him alone.”

Octavian grimaced and nodded his head once, just enough to show that he understood. 

“Have a good practice!” Jason said with a smile as he and Frank walked to the locker room. 

“Was that true?” Frank asked. 

Jason sighed. “Yeah. Reyna found out about it afterwards. It didn’t work, so she didn’t know if it was worth telling, and she didn’t have solid proof. At the time.”

“She does now?”

“Yup. Head cheerleader is a friend of a friend. Apparently lesbian circles are really small and really willing to rat out a shitty guy.”

“So...we’re blackmailing him?” Frank was skeptic, and honestly, Jason was too.

He liked honesty over subterfuge, but he wasn’t sure how else he could handle this situation with Octavian and have it stick. Percy seemed to be bringing out lots of different sides of him and Jason wasn’t sure how much he liked that. 

“Tactically withholding information from the proper authorities until the correct opportunity presents itself,” Jason corrected, but it was really more of a rationalization. “Besides, I don't even think he can actually get in that much trouble since it didn’t work, but it _will_ tarnish his reputation, which is way more important to him. Not to mention what it would do to his permanent record.”

Frank took a beat to respond. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

Jason laughed and clapped Frank on his shoulder. “I promise to never blackmail you, Frank. Besides, I don’t think I could get anything on you that’s really worthy of blackmail anyway.”

“Somehow that isn’t reassuring.”

. . .

On Thursday, Percy found it very difficult to motivate himself to go to school. He couldn’t play sick, his mom would see right through that just like the night before when she saw right through his attempts to downplay exactly what had happened. He didn’t want her to worry. And this really wasn’t as bad as it had been at some of the other schools, it just seemed worse because he had gained a reputation so quickly. So, so quickly. And then there was the whole Jason thing where he went from blushing to bashing to...another alliterative b-word that meant being nice. The whole situation was giving him whiplash. 

But, he had successfully navigated to his first class thanks to Annabeth and Grover who flanked him the whole way. He noticed that there was a really weird energy to the whole school, like everyone was waiting for something to happen. That did not bode well for Percy if the last few days were anything to go by. 

“You gonna be okay?” Annabeth asked once Percy and Grover reached their seats.

“Yeah, of course,” Percy said with a grin. “What could possibly go wrong in a chemistry class full of dangerous chemicals, Connor Stoll, and Leo Valdez?”

Annabeth gave him a rueful look before walking away. He could tell she was concerned. Probably.

Percy sighed and slid into his seat. 

“Try not to worry about it, Percy. I don’t think Octavian would actually do anything that would hurt you—”

“Just make the rest of my time here a living hell?”

“Yeah, exactly!”

Percy chuckled. “Thanks man.” Percy pulled out his notebook as the Intercom system dinged on. 

“Good morning Olympus High! This is Will Solace here with your morning announcements! Today’s lunch will be spaghetti with garlic bread with your choice of meat or vegetarian sauce. Make sure you pick up a side salad while you’re in line to get those yummy vitamins and minerals! Uh, also!” Will’s tone shifted like he was going off script. “Make sure you support our football team! The season starts soon, and we have our very own team co-captain, Jason Grace, here to say a few words about...that.” Yeah, Will was definitely being more awkward than usual today.

Percy rolled his eyes at the mention of Jason. Of course he got to talk on Will’s little school-wide morning show. 

There was a bit of a kerfuffle over the Intercom.

“Uh, hi. Yeah, this is Jason Grace, co-captain of the football team. Uh, go Trojans! Yeah, but, uh, what I really want to say is: I’m a huge asshole.”

Silence.

And then laughter. 

“I, Jason Grace, am a massive, unthinking, idiotic, complete and utter asshole.”

There was a muffled shout over the intercom.

“If there’s anyone who should be treated like crap, it’s me. I’m the one who deserves it.”

The shouting grew louder. Percy could make out Mr. D yelling “Get off the mic, Grace!”

Jason sped through his last line like he only had seconds to live. “Anyone taking out their own insecurities on Percy will have to answer to me okay bye go Trojans!” The Intercom shut off. 

Leo stood up and cheered while the rest of the class laughed and clapped. _This is like those Tumblr stories where everyone claps at the end, but it’s actually happening._ Their chemistry teacher was trying to reign in the class by shouting over the cacophony. It wasn’t working. The deviation from the norm paired with the forbidden language wielded so casually by Mr. Golden Boy over the Official Schoolwide Intercom was too much for the collective teenagers to handle.

Percy held his face in his hands to hide the blush he could feel radiating off his face.

“Percy?” Grover began, leaning close so he could be heard over the noise.

“Oh my god.”

Grover put his hand on Percy’s back, genuine concern practically pouring off of him. “You okay?”

“I’m going to fucking kill him.” Percy couldn’t tamp down the grin spreading across his face.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on tumblr!  
> mugglebornandraised.tumblr.com


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